Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 139: Restructuring of the Governor's Office

Not to mention that the two courts in Guangdong were preparing for a life-and-death battle, Meng Jun traveled around and returned to Suzhou City. As soon as he arrived in Suzhou City, Meng Jun summoned everyone for discussion.

The whole month of September has been a very busy one for Meng Jun. The saying "a lot of work needs to be done" can be used to describe Meng Jun's current situation. Although the military situation is not so urgent and the Qing court is currently tied up by several other battlefields, it is foreseeable that a large-scale war will not be far away. Either Meng Jun will take the lead in attacking to break the deadlock, or the Qing army will raise another large army to besiege the Meng family.

In early September, all the towns of Meng's army had completed their reinforcements. Meng Jun then ordered Lin Shiqi's Kewu Town to recapture Meng Jun's hometown of Changshu. At the same time, the Wuning and Wuxing Towns attacked Wuxi and threatened Changzhou and Zhenjiang. Meng Jun intended to test the Qing court.

After a busy period, Meng Jun just lay down on the chair to rest for a while, and then Yu An came in and said, "Governor, Director Wu of the Propaganda Department wants to see you."

"Wu Tai?" Meng Jun slapped his head. There were too many things to do. He hadn't seen Wu Tai since he returned to Suzhou City. He immediately said to Yu An, "Go, come in quickly."

Wu Tai is an old man who has followed Meng Jun. Although his ability is average, he followed Meng Jun at the same time as Yang En. At that time, Meng Jun had only a thousand soldiers and had no place to stand, which was even more valuable.

Wu Tai was dressed in a long blue cloth gown, with an upright posture and a refined and elegant temperament that showed a bit of fortitude. When he saw Meng Jun, Wu Tai bowed and said, "I am here to see the governor."

"Yingren (Wu Tai's name), please get up quickly!" Meng Jun said hurriedly, and stretched out his hand to help Wu Tai up.

After Wu Tai stood up, he respectfully took out a document that had been prepared long ago from his bosom and presented it to Meng Jun, then said, "Your Excellency, this is the relevant plan and arrangement of the Propaganda Department in the second half of the year. Please take a look at it. If there is anything that is not perfect or needs improvement, please let me know."

Meng Jun took the document and read it carefully. As he read, his brows gradually furrowed. After a long time, Meng Jun raised his head and looked at Wu Tai and said, "The Propaganda Department is a bit too conservative. You only plan to go to Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo and other big cities for propaganda, but completely ignore the vast rural areas. I want everyone to know that resisting the Qing Dynasty is not something that has nothing to do with them. I want all the people to feel the same way."

Meng Jun paused for a moment, took a sip of water, and continued, "In addition, the Propaganda Department can consider sending some smart and capable people to the areas controlled by the Qing court to secretly spread propaganda, plan and organize various forms of anti-Qing activities to shake the foundation of their rule and disrupt their social order."

When Wu Tai heard this, his face turned slightly red, and even a little sweat appeared on his forehead. He subconsciously reached out to wipe it off, and said with a little shame: "I am so ashamed, please forgive me, I will go back and make new arrangements." After that, he turned around and wanted to leave.

However, Meng Jun raised his hand to stop Wu Tai, with a smile on his face, and comforted him: "Don't worry, it's also due to insufficient support from the Governor's Office. Let's put it this way, you go back and rewrite the regulations, and then calculate how many people and money and food are needed, and then report it, and the Governor's Office will do its best to make up for it."

After hearing this, Wu Tai felt relieved and nodded repeatedly to express his gratitude. Then, he bowed to Meng Jun again, and then slowly turned around and left.

Meng Jun watched Wu Tai leave and sat back on the chair somewhat tiredly. Although the Governor's Office had been established a long time ago, in fact, everything was for the service of the army. This was obviously abnormal. Meng Jun had thought about reforming the Governor's Office a long time ago, but had not been able to find the time. Thinking of this, Meng Jun forced himself to cheer up.

In Meng Jun's conception, the organizational structure of the Governor's Office would include the Ministry of Counsellor at the top and the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Ministry of Propaganda, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Craftsmen at the bottom. It was almost a variant of the Cabinet and the Five Ministries of Personnel, Households, Military Affairs, and Rites of the Ming Dynasty.

It would be too complicated for Meng Jun to complete the establishment of the Governor's Office by himself. Thinking of this, Meng Jun shouted to Yu An outside the door: "Go and invite Mu De, Mr. Gu, and Zhang Bo and the others."

"Yes, the governor." Then a burst of hurried footsteps came from near and far.

As Yang En and Gu Yanwu and others hurried over, Meng Jun first asked someone to pour a few cups of tea and said, "Have a cup of tea first."

After taking a sip of tea, Yang En spoke first: "Commander-in-chief, what's the urgent matter?"

"After careful consideration, I decided to carry out institutional reforms in the Governor's Office. Originally, everything revolved around the army, but now the situation is different. We now have such a vast territory. It is no longer the period when there was only the city of Suzhou. We are currently facing many problems. Important matters such as taxation, official governance, laws and regulations, overseas trade, and distribution of money and grain lack clear persons in charge to manage them. If there are no rules and regulations, it will inevitably fall into chaos." Meng Jun looked at the people in front of him and said solemnly.

After hearing this, Yang En nodded in agreement and responded, "That's true." He was well aware of the importance of standardized management to a force.

Gu Yanwu heard this and said, "Governor, why don't we follow the old rules of the court? If we change it, I'm afraid people will be uneasy."

Zhang Bo expressed his opposition when he heard Gu Yanwu's words. He shook his head and said, "How can we change the old rules of the court? We can't change the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue as well."

"That's not what I mean. What I mean is that the Governor's Office can be restructured, but the local system must not be changed. If it is changed, on the one hand, the scoundrels will inevitably doubt the governor's intentions, and secondly, I am afraid that the local people will be uneasy," Gu Yanwu said slowly.

Everyone present began to express their opinions and participated freely in this heated discussion. Sometimes they would argue with each other because of disagreements, but more often they were just discussing with each other. In this way, time passed by minute by minute, and a whole day passed, but no one noticed it at all. It was not until nightfall that the new system of the Governor's Office was launched.

As a large and complex institution, the Governor's Office has multiple departments to achieve comprehensive management. The most important one is the Counselor's Office, which plays a key role like the brain of the Governor's Office, just like the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty.

The Counselor's Department has five departments under its jurisdiction: the first is the Personnel Department, which is responsible for managing the promotion and demotion of officials and can be said to be the head of all departments. The second is the Civil Affairs Department, which has a wide range of powers, including the collection of money and grain, the allocation and supply of materials, etc. Next is the Military and Political Department. All military actions must be approved by this department before they can be implemented. At the same time, they are also in charge of the garrisons in various places as well as the infantry and navy of each town. The Propaganda Department, as the name suggests, is a department specifically responsible for propaganda work. Finally, there is the Justice Department, whose main task is to supervise and inspect bureaucrats at all levels and handle related legal affairs. As for the Craftsmen Department, it focuses on the manufacture and production of weapons and equipment.